BaL 3.12.11 Brahms Clarinet Quintet (merged threads)

[verismissimo]

given Professor Lawson's background* I hope he will be able to point to an interesting HIPP performance - I love Kell/Busch, but wd really like to get a good HIPP version too...

* https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/ind...ker_detail/41/

That would be one or other of the Fitzwilliam Quartet recordings, vinteuil.

I haven't heard the Hacker, but have the Schatzberger, which I will review before next Saturday.

Also the other non-HIPP versions that I have - Puddy with the Gabrielis (unavailable) and Riha with the Smetanas (available)

[verismissimo]

In a booklet note by the performer on the clarinet used by Lesley Schatzberger, she describes how she commissioned a copy of Muhlfeld's clarinets from Rudolph Tutz in Innsbruck.

The original instruments were made by Georg Ottersteiner in Munich in the 1870s. The fingering system is different from a modern clarinet and is made with a lighter wood and has a straighter bore, says Schatzberger, and so "has a less boomy and more focussed quality than later clarinets, with more potential for delicacy and varied colours."

It seems to me really to come into its own in the middle movements.

Let's see how she does with Professor Lawson.

[Alf-Prufrock]

This should be an exceptionally interesting BAL since Colin Lawson plays exceptionally well himself. Moreover, he has written the Cambridge Music Handbook on the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, giving the background, history and influence of the quintet, and discussing the performance practice of the time and the nature of the clarinet used by Muhlfeld. A great deal in a short book. You can investigate here :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brahms-Clarinet-Quintet-Cambridge-Handbooks/dp/0521588316/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1322401732&sr=1-3-catcorr

[aeolium]

I enjoyed Colin Lawson's BaL, and not for the first time thought I could easily have lived with most of the versions mentioned, on the basis of the extracts he played. Also, and Lawson seemed to suggest this, there is room in this work for many very different approaches, which can all work.

He made some interesting comments about the type of clarinet Mühlfeld used, but he gave the impression that he wasn't totally convinced by the Schatzberger/Fitzwilliam recording.

I was glad to hear an extract from the old Kell recording, which was greatly praised by the Gramophone reviewer on its release.

[Tony Halstead]

Did I 'hear right' and could it be that Prof. Lawson somehow slipped in an April Fool several months too early..?
He was somewhat underwhelmed at one point by an Hungarian player called 'Bolloch' accompanied by the 'Dubius' quartet!

Having had tinnitus for a couple of weeks maybe my ears were playing up?

[Tony Halstead]

Sorry, I now see it listed in the OP:
Jozsef Balogh (clarinet), Danubius Quartet.

It was pretty dull, though.

[vinteuil]

... an excellent BAL, I thought. There seems to be gap in the market for a convincing HIPP version - Colin spoke respectfully of the Schatzberger/Fitzw'm - but clearly thought it was 'interesting' rather than compelling...

I was very taken by his recommendation of the Hosford/Nash - at bargain price! - and will clearly have to add it to the Gervase de Peyer/Melos; Kell/Busch; Leister/Amadeus; Leister/Brandis on the shelves...

Did you all hear the interesting bit after his recommendation - where the announcer said that henceforth BAL would be featuring a range of recordings "whether currently available or not" (altho' the final Recommendation wd always include one "currently available") - so as not to be too distorted by the temporary vagaries of what is or is not available.

This seems eminently sensible - and something many of us have been asking for for a long time.

[Tony Halstead]

I have the Schatzberger / Fitzwilliam and enjoy it very much indeed!
I was a bit disappointed that Prof Lawson said ( I can't remember the exact words) that the performance had the 'aura of a laboratory'.
Ms Schatzberger's tone (range of tones) is unique and the overall musicality, integration and interaction with the superb quartet is admirable.

[Mr Pee]

I wasn't able to listen to this- Hi-Fi's still on the blink- but did Sabine Meyer get a mention? I'm a big fan of her playing and her Brahms Quintet is excellent, I think.

[Tony Halstead]

She did 'get a mention' but not much of one, although a short extract was played.
CL ( how apt) wasn't exactly over the moon. I forget the exact reasons, maybe 'excellent technique, not much feeling'?

[vinteuil]

did Sabine Meyer get a mention? I'm a big fan of her playing and her Brahms Quintet is excellent, I think.

... yes, Professor Lawson did refer to Sabine Meyer, and played an extract. He was diplomatic, but not particularly kind. "Everything in the right place", if I recall, is what he said - with an implication that there was perhaps not much musical depth...

[BBMmk2]

I am glad that The Nash Ensemble's recordsing was chosen, as I am rather a fan!

[amateur51]

Did you all hear the interesting bit after his recommendation - where the announcer said that henceforth BAL would be featuring a range of recordings "whether currently available or not" (altho' the final Recommendation wd always include one "currently available") - so as not to be too distorted by the temporary vagaries of what is or is not available.

This seems eminently sensible - and something many of us have been asking for for a long time.

Yes indeed vints - a step in the right direction, I hope. It will be interesting to see how it pans out

[Tony Halstead]

"
I am glad that The Nash Ensemble's recordsing was chosen, as I am rather a fan!" ( posted by Brassbandmaestro)

Well then, that's all fine and 'absolutely OK' as long as you are a lover of harsh, strident, vibrato-laden string tone.

[mikealdren]

Surprised nobody has commented yet on the big news of the programme; they are now comparing performances that may not be available due to the vagaries of the catalogues. These won't be the final choice but we will get something more like the 'Interpretations on record' review that many of us crave.

Mike